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WRESTLING: U.S. Olympic Team in women’s wrestling featured in major photo essay in ESPN The Magazine

Sports Features Communications™ 7/10/04

The members of the U.S. Olympic Team in women’s freestyle wrestling were featured in a major photo essay in ESPN The Magazine, in its July 19 edition which hit the newsstands and was received by subscribers this week.

The feature covered five pages in this major national sports magazine. The story is entitled “Ladykillers.”

Al Bellow of Getty Images shot the images for ESPN The Magazine, and the text for the feature was written by ESPN journalist Lindsay Berra.

The athletes focused on in the feature are Olympians Patricia Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 48 kg/105.5 lbs., Tela O’Donnell (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) at 55 kg/121 lbs., Sara McMann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. and Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC) at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.

Bellow spent a week with the U.S. women wrestlers when they were in Staten Island, N.Y., for a historic pre-Olympic training camp session, June 21-28. The team trained at the di Silvestri Wrestling Center on the campus of Staten Island's Monsignor Farrell High School that week.

There is a fun two-page portrait of the four U.S. Olympic team members, shot from the roof of the Staten Island Hotel, where the team stayed during the training camp.

Also included are action shots of Miranda, McMann and Montgomery from the Titan Games Built by Home Depot competition in Atlanta, Ga., June 19-20. A training shot of O’Donnell is included.

A photo of the team members, along with USA Wrestling National Women’s Coach and Olympic Coach Terry Steiner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, is included. Bloomberg declared it Women’s Olympic Wrestling Team week in New York City when the women were there for training.

A shot of McMann taking down NBC Today Show host Katie Couric from the outdoor set of the Today Show in Rockefeller Center is featured. The women wrestlers appeared on the Today Show, giving wrestling demonstrations and being interviewed by hosts Couric and Matt Lauer.

Another image of Montgomery in her hotel room, working on the hair of training partner Stephany Lee (Honolulu, Hawaii/Missouri Valley College) is in the feature.

This was the first U.S. Olympic training camp for women’s wrestling ever, as women’s wrestling is the only new sport at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

While they were in New York City, the team was involved in a series of major media interviews and public appearances.

In addition to appearing on the Today Show, the women were involved in a special feature segment on College Sports Television. The feature was originally to be held outside in Chelsea Piers, but moved into the CSTV studio before a live audience.

Among the national media outlets to interview the women were NBC News Channel, CNN, Reuters Television, National Public Radio and Voice of America. People Magazine did a photo shoot. Major newspapers including the New York Times, Newsday, the Record, the White Plains Journal and the Staten Island Advance attended practice. Also doing interviews were Women’s Wear Daily, plus Japanese newspaper Mainichi and New York newsradio WINS and New York television stations WNBC and WPIX.

The women were guests of Staten Island and the New York City community, with special support from the Metropolitan Wrestling Association. Other groups supporting the visit were the New York City Sports Commission and the NYC2012 bid committee.

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The Daily Ticket

7/9/04

Today's sure thing ...

Toccara Montgomery, a 2004 U.S. Olympian in women's wrestling, will conduct a clinic for girls today and Saturday at Centennial High School, 6901 Coit Road in Frisco. Three two-hour sessions are scheduled each day, starting at 9 a.m. The $75 fee covers both days. For more information, call the Centennial wrestling office at (469) 633-5668, or athletes may register at the door.

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Shannyn Gillespie hired as USOEC Women’s Wrestling Coach

7/9/2004
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- USA Wrestling and Northern Michigan University are pleased to announce the hiring of Shannyn Gillespie of Chicago, Ill., to serve as the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC) women’s wrestling resident coach

The women’s freestyle wrestling program will start in the fall of 2004 at the USOEC on the NMU campus in Marquette, Mich. Gillespie’s position is effective July 12. There is currently a successful Greco-Roman resident program at the USOEC.

“This is a challenge I am ready for,” said Gillespie. “Women’s wrestling is on the rise. The women have never had a dedicated program like this designed to take them to the next level. It will also allow them to get college scholarships, college credit and college degrees. This is a program that will allow our athletes to shine.”

Gillespie was a successful athlete on the college and international freestyle levels, and has extensive coaching experience on the youth and college levels. He comes to the USOEC coaching staff after serving as executive director and coach with the Black Kats Wrestling Club in Evanston, Ill, a position he has held since 2002. Gillespie has handled the administrative leadership of this non-profit organization, which provides quality wrestling opportunities for young people in the community.

Gillespie was also responsible for increasing fundraising for the club considerably, utilizing a variety of strategies to solicit support for the program. He has designed and implemented middle school and high school wrestling divisions for the club. He has utilized the Internet to help build the program and provide improved information delivery to students, teachers, parents, staff and the community.

“We are very pleased that Shannyn is interested in this challenge, ”said Mitch Hull, National Teams Director for USA Wrestling. “The more we discussed this opportunity, the clearer it became that Shannyn was the right individual. He has the technical background and the energy to develop this program as a cornerstone for the development of women’s wrestling.”

Gillespie has extensive experience as a college assistant wrestling coach, working with the wrestling programs at Northern Illinois University, California University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University. He was also an assistant wrestling coach at Evanston Township High School. He is a bronze certified coach in USA Wrestling’s National Coaches Education Program.

Gillespie was a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete in Colorado Springs, Colo., for two years during his freestyle career. He placed in a number of international competitions, including a bronze medal at the 1988 Sunkist Kids International Open. He also placed in several national age-group competitions, including a silver medal at the 1989 Junior Nationals.

Gillespie competed for Lock Haven University where he placed third at the 1993 NCAA Championships. He received a degree in Health and Physical Education there. He was an Illinois state high school champion for Evanston Township High School. Gillespie is a member of the Eastern Wrestling League, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Evanston Township High School Halls of Fame.

“Any coach wants to be a head coach, whether it is on the university, high school or youth level,” Gillespie said. “I will have the support of Northern Michigan, USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee. It is a great opportunity. The women wrestlers will be getting their just due. They deserve the same opportunity as men do. They deserve Olympic medals just like we do.”

In addition to working with the USOEC resident athletes and team, Gillespie will also be a member of USA Wrestling’s professional national women’s coaching staff, helping to build the United States women’s team into an elite program.

In February, 1989, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Northern Michigan University (or NMU) as the nation's only United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC). The USOEC's main focus is the resident athlete training program, where athletes actively train for the Olympic Games while also continuing their education. Generally, athletes in this program must be nationally ranked and also approved by their national governing body (NGB), the USOEC, and NMU. The USOEC also has resident athlete training programs in boxing, short track speedskating, Greco-Roman wrestling, and weightlifting.

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Wrestling has a mortal lock on Christine Nordhagen

by Richard Cairney
Folio Staff 7/9/04

When Christine Nordhagen was working towards an education degree at the University of Alberta in 1991, she decided to take a wrestling class to meet her physical education minor requirements.

Today, she's a six-time national women's wrestling champion, has just qualified for Canada's Olympic women's wrestling team and has her eyes set on competing at the Summer Olympics in Athens this year.

This summer marks the first time women's wrestling will be an Olympic event, and Nordhagen plans on being there when history is made.

"It's a good thing for me - I'm glad because I'm 32 and I don't think I'll be wrestling five years from now," she said. "There is going to be a point where there are other things I want to do in my life and sports, especially wrestling, can be hard on your body."

That may be the case but for the time being, Nordhagen is focused on making her next move: she will travel to Tunisia in March and compete in a women's wrestling tournament there in order to qualify for Athens.

Growing up in the northern Alberta hamlet of Valhalla Centre, Nordhagen was always a good wrestler, even as a child.

"It's a natural thing for kids to do and it was just something I was good at," she explained. "I just had a good natural awareness of how to transfer my weight and use leverage."

When she joined up for the wrestling class at the U of A, as the only woman, she began to learn techniques and strategies and managed to win a match against one of her male classmates.

Nordhagen joined a local wrestling club - it was the first year women were recruited into wrestling clubs nationally - and the following year the U of A began its own women's wrestling program.

U of A wrestlers have earned a solid reputation across the country. Golden Bear wrestler Colby Bell competed in the Olympics in Atlanta, but failed to qualify for the national team during Olympic trials held here in December.

Golden Bears' wrestling coach Vang Ioannides said the trials weren't the best the U of A has attended.

"In many ways it was disappointing - we didn't place a person on the Olympic team for the first time in the last three Olympics," he said. "Colby was on the team in 1996 and competed in Atlanta and he was on the team in 2000."

But there are some bright spots on both the men's and women's teams, he added, singling out Heidi Kulak and Joe Slobodian as strong athletes.

Ioannides, who has coached Nordhagen, is quick to point out that the U of A is widely regarded as playing a pivotal role in raising the profile of women's wrestling to a level that Olympic organizers included it in this summer's Games.

"The U of A has played a huge part in the advancement of women's wrestling, and a person like Christine is a perfect example of that," he said. "And we hosted the world university wrestling championships in 2002 and insisted on having a women's wrestling component, and many people think that was the catalyst that forced the Olympic organizers to add it to the Games."

The U of A hosts men and women wrestlers from across the country at the U of A Varsity Open and the Golden Bear Invitational Jan. 10 and 11 in the Butterdome. Admission is free.

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WOMEN'S WRESTLING PROGRAM

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Rams' Orabona an All-American

July 09,2004
Jeremy Slayton
Sun Journal Staff

TheMat.com/ASICS puts her on 3rd team

HAVELOCK -- It started out as a quest to get her picture in a magazine.

In the end, Havelock rising senior Laine Orabona was selected to TheMat.com/ASICS Girls High School All-American Wrestlers third team, which was released Tuesday.

"I was like, 'oh, do I get my picture in a magazine now?'" Orabona said with a laugh. "[Havelock wrestling] coach [Ed Cruz] showed me a magazine last year, and I went through it and I was like, I beat her, I beat her, I beat her, she beat me, but I definitely beat her. So, I was like, 'why aren't I in this magazine?' … It's pretty cool [to be selected]."

Orabona was chosen in part due to her achievements on the mat the past year.

She finished third at the 7th Annual United States Girls Wrestling Association National Championships at Lake Orion, Mich.; she finished second at the 3rd Annual USGWA North Carolina State Championships in Goldsboro; and she claimed third in the Body Bar FILA Cadet Women's Championships at St. Joseph, Minn.

It was also at the tournament in Minnesota where Orabona was selected to be one of 21 young wrestlers to go to the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo., which she said was the most memorable thing she's done this summer.

"What they're trying to do, is put together a women's Olympic team. … Basically, go to Northern Michigan [University] for two years and go back to the training center for the Olympics in 2008," said Orabona.

The key's to Orabona's success on the mat is simple if you listen to Cruz. "She's done all the right things," he said.

Orabona, who is ranked preseason No. 2 nationally in the 118-pound class by USGWA, said she would like to key her eyes set toward wrestling in the Olympics in the future.

"That's what I'm looking at right now. Cause if I don't find something I'd rather do in college, I did want to look at wrestling," she said. "If I go up to Northern Michigan, it's basically pushing for the Olympics. It'd be that kind of training all the way through."

Being able to go to these tournaments throughout the country has given Orabona exposure to some of the tougher female wrestling, something she won't experience in North Carolina, where female wresters are few and far between.

"There are a lot of really tough girls. There are girls that went to the Olympic trials this year that are my age," she said. "A lot of those girls are definitely looking like this is where I want to be. I want to be in the Olympics. I wrestle a lot of girls that have that mindset."

The experience will also help her in her final campaign at Havelock.

"We're looking for some pretty good stuff out of her," said Cruz. "I don't think a female has qualified for the state tournament, and that is something that [Orabona] wants to accomplish."

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Women fought hard for right to join Games

2004-07-09 / Reuters / By Robert Woodward

The Olympics would be "men-only" Games if founder Pierre de Coubertin's ideas still held sway.

Inspired by the example of ancient Greece and the ideals of medieval chivalry, De Coubertin saw the true Olympic hero as an adult male.

For him the Games were "the solemn and periodic exaltation of male athleticism...with the applause of women as a reward."

"If a woman wishes to pilot an airplane, no policeman has a right to stop her...but when it comes to public sports competitions, women's participation should be absolutely prohibited," the Frenchman said in 1910.

Despite the opposition of the first president of the International Olympic Committee, women were allowed to compete in the second modern Games in 1900. A century later, they are still playing catch-up with their male team mates.

In Sydney four years ago, 38 percent of the Olympic athletes were female. Nine of the 199 Sydney teams did not contain a woman compared with 26 teams in Atlanta in 1996.

Women were involved in 131 of the 300 events and, after making their debut in weightlifting in 2000, they can win wrestling medals for the first time in Athens in August when 44 percent of the athletes are expected to be women.

'Corrupting' influence

The thought of women wrestlers would make De Coubertin turn in his grave. He feared girls "corrupted" young men who otherwise would be involved in pure sporting endeavor, and never accepted women had their place in the Olympic fold.

"The ruggedness of male exertion, the basis of athletic education when prudently but resolutely applied, is much to be dreaded when it comes to the female," he wrote in 1928.

"Add a female element, and the event becomes monstrous." In the ancient Olympics, women were banned - even as spectators - on pain of death.

In De Coubertin's view women could not physically rival men, therefore they could not push sport "citius, altius, fortius" (faster, higher, stronger), the core precept of the Olympics.

He also failed to see the appeal of women's events running alongside the men's at the Games. "In our view this feminine semi-Olympiad is impractical, uninteresting, ungainly and, I do not hesitate to add, improper."

After the first Games were held in Athens in 1896, women took to the Olympic stage in Paris four years later in the tennis, golf and croquet competitions.

Britain's Charlotte Cooper, a Wimbledon champion, was the first woman to win a gold.

Women, dressed in shorts and sleeveless costumes, were able to enter the swimming in 1912 and to fence in 1924. However, athletics officials and the IOC refused to allow them to take part in track and field.

Girls do it for themselves

In response and empowered by the growing suffragette movement, Frenchwoman Alice Milliat organized the first "women's Olympics" in 1922, a one-day event in Paris which drew big crowds.

Four years later the event involving 10 nations took place in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Such was the success of these games that the IAAF was forced to take notice. In exchange for Milliat dropping the Olympic tag, officials offered her 10 events at the next Games.

The IOC, however, included only five women's events in 1928. The British women's team refused to take part due to this snub - the only feminist boycott in Olympic history.

The women's 800 meters in Amsterdam in 1928 triggered a storm, particularly among those who agreed with Coubertin that women were not made for extreme physical exercise.

The race was won by Germany's Linde Radke and the press reported several women fell to the ground at the end following their exertions.

This was deemed unseemly and in 1929 the IOC voted to exclude women from the athletics events at the 1932 Games.

The IAAF, under pressure from the Americans, reversed the ban although women were not allowed to compete in the 800 meters again until 1960.

The first Games after World War Two, in 1948 in London, provided the stage for arguably the finest woman athlete in Olympic history, Dutchwoman Fanny Blankers-Koen.

The mother of two children, Blankers-Koen won four gold medals and changed perceptions in the IOC and IAAF about the prowess of women athletes.